Page 31 - MetalForming Magazine June/July 2022 80th Anniversary Issue

competency-based credentials and expanding youth Work Based Learn- ing opportunities and apprentice- ships.”
Uncertainty over the supply chains and availability of metals and other raw materials is another key area tar- geted by PMA’s advocacy efforts.
“PMA recently held meetings with the Department of Commerce, Nation- al Economic Council and U.S. Trade Representative (on raw-material con- cerns),” Nashashibi says. “PMA suc- cessfully lobbied to provide relief from the tariffs on European Union steel of 25 percent, and 10 percent on alu- minum. Effective January 1, 2022, the United States lifted the tariffs, replacing them with a negotiated quota system. To help alleviate other supply-chain disruptions, PMA worked with Con- gress on bipartisan legislation now moving to invest in semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and a U.S. innovation and industrial strategy to address China’s rise.”
Online-Training Development
Training represents
another top-of-mind
focus for PMA. To assist
members and the industry
in workforce develop-
ment, in 2018 PMA
debuted its METALFORM EDU online training package. Today, the platform boasts nearly 700 courses, including 37 PMA-exclusive courses and more than 650 courses in precision meas- urement, blueprint reading, SPC, CNC, Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, safety and more. Manufacturers using MET- ALFORM EDU can increase employees’ productivity, skills and engagement by assigning courses based on individual,
PMA completed renovation of its Independence, OH, headquarters in 2022, which included state-of-the-art conference amenities.
department and company-wide needs. “Since we introduced METALFORM EDU, we’ve helped train thousands of metal forming professionals around the country,” says Klotz. “And, it’s driving new member companies to join. In 2020 we changed learning-management sys- tems for the program, to improve the user experience. Now, thanks to funding from the PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF), we’re looking to add several
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